NFTs.

Non-Fungible Tokens, more commonly known as NFTs are the biggest rave in the Web 3.0 and Crypto space today. The buzz about them is due to the endless possibilities that they represent to artists and art collectors alike. They also represent a good investment plan for those interested in investing in the Metaverse and Web 3.0.

Non-fungible basically means uniqueness. NFTs are digital tokens that can be used to indicate ownership of one-of-a-kind goods. NFTs are unique tokens that live on the blockchain. They can be represented by anything such as pictures, literature, songs. They are different from fungible tokens on the blockchain like cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Dogecoin, which can be traded for other cryptocurrencies. An NFT can also be an Ethereum domain name, thus Atsu Davoh’s (CEO of Bitsika) hope that superstars like Rema, Fireboy, and Tems will eventually have to meet him for their eth. domain names is not unfounded and if there is a sale, an NFT will have been bought.

NFTs mostly exist on the Ethereum blockchain and this was made possible by ERC-721 (Ethereum Request for Comments 721). The ERC-721 introduced a standard for NFTs making them unique and having a different value from another NFT. The ERC-721 standard enables us to tokenize items such as artwork, collectibles, and even real estate. They can only have one official owner at a time, and they're protected by the Ethereum blockchain, which means no one can change the ownership record or create an NFT exactly like yours. You can think of an NFT as a passport, in the sense that to identify itself from other tokens, each has its own unique, non-transferable identity.

You might also be wondering how the owner of an NFT can verify their ownership, well there are several ways to verify ownership of the NFT such as checking the metadata and the transaction history or by signing messages to prove that you own the private key behind the address. Essentially, your NFT is secure because it lives on the blockchain, thus cannot be sold without your approval or manipulated.

NFTs have allowed creators to access the global market and sell their work anywhere, and also allow them to retain ownership rights over their own work, and claim resale royalties directly. NFT creators can include a resale percentage in their work so that if it is resold by the first buyer, the creator can still profit from it.

The emergence of NFTs represents a new direction the internet is heading towards, one where you can prove ownership of a physical asset such as land, or verify the originality of a physical asset; Nike has patented a system where you can verify the authenticity of a sneaker with an NFT. This represents boundless opportunities with how they can be applied. NFTs have also been used as an entry to exclusive communities such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club with members like Stephen Curry, Neymar, and Serena Williams. NFTs will also allow help remove all the unnecessary steps that are currently involved in verifying any physical asset, this has already been applied by EY to help protect the provenance of fine wine investment. There are also hopes that in the future, NFTs will replace every form of identification that we use daily because the uniqueness of each one will help reduce fraud.

However, the most exciting use for NFTs is in the art space as it can help elevate artists into financial security. Before February 2020, Mike Winkelmann had sold his most expensive work for only 100 dollars, now he is worth 50 million dollars. His works have sold for 28.9 million dollars, 69.3 million dollars, and 3.5 million dollars, respectively, for Human One, Everydays: The First 5000 Days, and Everydays: The 2020 Collection. This success is not limited to only him, the NFT market has been heralded as one of the best economic innovations of 2020 by Forbes. The NFT market raised over 22 billion dollars last year, a far jump from the 100 million dollars raised in 2020. The market has also offered youths all over the world an avenue to earn money.

Online, NFTs alarmists have pointed out that the concept behind NFTs is dumb by posting images of popular NFTs under the owner’s original post, however, this does not make them the owner of the NFT and does not give them the benefit of making money off the NFT. There have also been fears that NFTs might have a negative effect on the environment, but NFTs do not increase the carbon footprint of Ethereum. There is no proof that they add a strain to the energy consumption of blockchain technology and as such these fears are not valid.

There have however been valid fears that NFTs are a volatile market of exclusivity that might not be sustainable and George Monaghan, an analyst at research firm GlobalData has said that it will take years for NFTs to behave like a conventional market. Artists have also stated that the NFT craze has helped in the devaluation of art as it favors resale over appreciation of art and is only a way for the super-rich to funnel money.